Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Maureen Ryan reviews Razor and has an interview with Michelle Forbes (Admiral Cain) in the Chicago Tribune:

Sometimes we have to do things that we never thought we were capable of, if only to show the enemy our will."

--Admiral Helena Cain, "Battlestar Galactica: Razor"

Now there’s a statement worthy of debate. When does the will turn malignant? When do the actions that a person takes to survive make that individual no longer worthy of the title “human”? When do the ends no longer justify the means?

Those are the questions that the reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” has asked for the past few years. And the genius of the series is that it asks these questions obliquely, without preaching or grandstanding. The solutions to these dilemmas aren’t easy, and the show doesn’t insult its audience by pretending that they are.

Characters sometimes openly debate complicated, life-and-death issues, but more typically, the Big Questions are woven into the fabric of an absorbing, well-crafted character-driven drama. It’s nearly possible to ignore the moral dimension of the series – which is its most timely, bracing element – and focus on the rock ’em, sock ’em space battles, the energetic direction, the spectacular special effects and the deft relationship drama.